Today we are launched into the drama of Holy Week. As we make our way in solemn procession, we bring into the present Our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem.
The Gospels bring us a detailed...
As we enter the final part of Lent, known as, “Passiontide”, in today’s passage from St. John’s Gospel we hear Our Lord’s prayer to His Father to be...
Today we rejoice! because Easter, the Feast of our Salvation, is drawing near.
Jerusalem, of which the Introit or Entrance Antiphon speaks, is the symbol on earth of our Mother, the Church, which is "God's...
Benedict XVI wrote an encyclical letter entitled “Saved by Hope”, in 2007. He reminded us that of the three great theological virtues, Faith, Hope and Charity, Hope is probably the least understood nowadays. Benedict saw the problem in...
Christ is the Lord of glory as we hear in today's Gospel of the Transfiguration. At first sight it seems strange to hear this account in Lent, the season of austerity. Yet we must understand that it is an...
On the First Sunday of Lent, we hear each year one of the Gospel accounts of Our Lord’s temptations in the Wilderness. This year we hear that of St. Mark. St. Mark’s is the shortest Gospel...
Lent is fast approaching: On Wednesday the holy season of Lent begins our long yearly journey towards Calvary and Easter. We call it a “journey” not only because it takes over seven weeks to complete, but because it...
In today’s Gospel, St. Mark continues the account of our Lord’s healing work among the Galileans very early on in His public ministry. All that Jesus does: casting out the devil, making...
Friday is Candlemas Day, the final liturgical celebration of the Nativity cycle of feasts. St. Luke tells us how Our Lady and St. Joseph brought the forty-day old baby Jesus to the Temple in accordance with the requirements of...
Thursday is the feast of this great event, in which Saul the Pharisee and fanatical persecutor of the Church was struck from his horse outside the gates of Damascus and heard a voice addressing him: “Saul, Saul, why are...
This public ministry is prepared for by Our Lord submitting to the baptism offered by his cousin, St John the Baptist. We celebrated the feast of the Lord’s baptism just this past Monday.
It...
The great Solemnity of the Epiphany or “Manifestation” of our Lord, commemorates so much more than the coming of the Magi, for we celebrate no fewer than three “wonders” on this...
Although we are used to thinking of Our Blessed Lady as the Mother of God, and honouring her as such, we must remember that there was a time in the history of the Church...
On Christmas Day we celebrate the appearance on earth of God in our human nature. This is the “miracle of the Incarnation”.
For by becoming man, Jesus did not in any way cease to...
In the Gospel John the Baptist continues to give witness to Christ by telling those sent to him by the Chief Priests that though he is not himself the Messiah (the “Christ” or the “Anointed One&rdquo...
Today the Gospel introduces the figure of St. John the Baptist. The Baptist was not like the zealots. His preaching did not prepare anyone for war, except for the war against dehumanizing sin. He wanted only to prepare people...
Advent is upon us once more. In the first instance, Advent is not about looking back to the first coming of the Saviour some two thousand years ago, which we will celebrate once more at Christmas.
Advent opens a new...
Today, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
We know from the Gospels that Jesus refused the title of king when it was meant...
What is the best thing anyone has ever said to you? Maybe you have a particularly strong memory of some word of appreciation or praise from a person whom you really admired and loved, and whose good opinion you longed...